Biotechnology Industry Organization

The Biotechnology Industry Organization, known as BIO, was created in 1993 by the merger of two small Washington-based biotechnology trade organizations:


 * The Industrial Biotechnology Association (IBA), primarily represented larger, established companies on Capitol Hill and before federal regulatory agencies; the other, the Association of Biotechnology Companies (ABC), represented emerging companies and universities, and focused on technology transfer issues, meetings and other business development activities.

According to The Hill, in November 2004, "The C2 Group ... signed the Biotechnology Industry Organization to gain congressional support for such industrial biotechnology issues as turning corn residues into usable plastics and establishing biorefineries." 

Fake news
A promotional website for BIO's June 2008 convention states:


 * BIO has retained DWJ Television to provide videography, TV, and radio broadcast services, as well as webcasting and podcasting, during the 2008 BIO International Convention. ...


 * DWJ Television can shoot footage and edit a video for your exhibit booth or B-roll/soundbites for news broadcasters. ...


 * DWJ will produce and distribute radio newsfeeds daily throughout the convention. DWJ will also maintain live fiber and satellite capability 24/7 for the delivery of important corporate news and interviews during the convention – to any and all TV stations in the U.S. or abroad.

BIO 2009
BIO hired the PR firm Environics Communications "to conduct public relations and media outreach for the association's 2009 BIO International Convention in Atlanta," Georgia, according to the Holmes Report. BIO vice president of communications Jeff Joseph remarked, "Environics Communications was selected because of the agency's strong health sciences knowledge and background, its relentless persistence in generating top-tier visibility for clients in traditional and new media, and its vast experience and understanding of how large trade associations operate."

FDA funding fees
U.S. government regulating agencies don't negotiate their budgets with industries they oversee, with the exception of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the early 1990s, the pharmaceutical industry began paying the FDA millions of dollars in user fees in order to speed up the drug approval process. These fees "now fund more than half the agency's critical drug-review process." Industry groups and the FDA renegotiate the fees and how they're used every five years, giving drug makers "considerable input into which programs receive funding." In 2006 the FDA negotiated an agreement with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and Biotechnology Industry Organization. Industry groups pushed for even faster decisions on labeling and other "conditions" of new drugs and the FDA negotiated more funding to monitor drug safety following approval.

Personnel

 * James C. Greenwood - President and CEO
 * Jeff Joseph - Vice president of communications
 * Susan Desmond-Hellmann - Board member

Contact information
Biotechnology Industry Organization 1225 Eye Street NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 Phone: 202.962.9200 Email: info@bio.org Website: http://www.bio.org/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Biotechnology
 * DWJ Television
 * Henri A. Termeer - director

External articles

 * Anna Wilde Mathews, "Drug Firms Use Financial Clout To Push Industry Agenda at FDA," Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), September 1, 2006.